Saturday, May. 24, 2008

Ag notes: Hilltop Ranch VP picked for almond board leader

Christine Long of Hilltop Ranch, an almond processor near Ballico, is the 2008 chairwoman of the Almond Board of California. Long, vice president at Hilltop, succeeded Fresno County processor Dean Nelson on the Modesto-based industry board. Its new vice chairman is Doug Youngdahl, president and chief executive officer of Blue Diamond Growers, which has plants in Salida and Sacramento. Among the other board members are David Phippen of Travaille and Phippen Inc. near Ripon; David Arakelian of Del Rio Nut Co. near Livingston; Wil Hunter of Hunter Farms near Livingston; Keith Rigg of Min-turn Nut Co. near LeGrand; and John Thoming, Bill Brush and Dave Baker of Blue Diamond.

Growers are invited the annual Stanislaus County Almond Field Day, set for 9 to 11 a.m. Wednesday at 6618 Faith Home Road, a half mile south of Keyes Road. Experts will talk about irrigation, bud failure and other topics. For more information, call the University of California Cooperative Extension at 525-6800.

A meeting Wednesday in Westley will offer a chance to say what projects should be funded through the federal Environmental Quality Incentives Program. The money helps farmers and ranchers protect water, air and other resources. The meeting, the first in a series around the county, will be at 10 a.m. at the Westley Firehouse, 8615 Highway 33. Comments can be e-mailed to lisa.alamo@ca.nacdnet.net or sent to the Stanislaus County Natural Resources Work Group, 3800 Cornucopia Way, Suite E, Modesto 95358. For more information, call 491-9320, ext. 121.

The California Department of Food and Agriculture is seeking input on how it should plan for the needs of farmers and related enterprises until 2030. The agency will hold six meetings around the state, with the one nearest Modesto at the CDFA auditorium, 1220 N St., Sacramento. It will be from 9 a.m. to noon Thursday. For more information, go to www.cdfa.ca.gov/agvision.

To submit items about agribusiness, call 578-2385, send a fax to 578-2207, or send an e-mail to jholland@modbee.com.